Grain Ideas initiative aims to turn ideas into businesses

Published: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 10:24 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 10:24 p.m.

A new initiative focused on turning great ideas into thriving local businesses took root Wednesday in downtown Spartanburg.

Craig Kinley, owner of Growler Haus, launched Grain Ideas, a program he piloted last year at his flagship ale house in Anderson. The program encourages area residents to share their concepts and work with other participants to figure out how to make those ideas a reality.

About 70 people crammed into Kinley's Spartanburg location off North Church Street during Wednesday's launch event. Former Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnet gave a 20-minute update about the Northside Initiative, a plan to revitalize the Northside area, before the crowd broke into smaller groups to discuss their ideas.

"This is really energizing to see this many people show up," Kinley said. "It just blows my mind."

Kinley recently teamed up with Wofford College's entrepreneurial team, including Scott Cochran, Courtney Shelton and Jeremy Boeh, to further develop the program, which is basically a networking platform with a launch component.

The program will be held once a month, but it will be split between Kinley's store at 113 N. Church St. and his location in Anderson in order to serve prospective entrepreneurs in both counties.

Each program will provide insight from a guest speaker, followed by pitches from a group of entrepreneurs. Hub-Bub and the Spartanburg Entrepreneurial Resource Network are also participating in Grain Ideas.

"There is a lot of support out there for entrepreneurs," Shelton said. "But what about those people who have 9-to-5 jobs? We wanted to be able to pool the support for them. This is about making dreams happen instead of just talking about them."

Some participants came armed with ideas, while others just wanted to get a feel for the program.

Reed Brown, vice president of Brown Packing in Gaffney, said he heard about the launch event in an email and just wanted to check it out for himself.

"There's a lot of energy in this room," Brown said. "It's putting people that have the ideas and energy in touch with the ones that can make it happen. I think it's great."

Kinley started his crowd-sourced craft beer venture in June 2012. Last year, he enrolled in the city of Spartanburg economic development department's Main Street Challenge.

He advanced all the way to the semifinals of the competition, but decided to drop out when the space he had been eyeing became available.

"I hope I never hear another person say 'I wish Spartanburg had that,' " Boeh said. "This is the place to talk about it. This is what is going to make Spartanburg better."

<p>A new initiative focused on turning great ideas into thriving local businesses took root Wednesday in downtown Spartanburg.</p><p>Craig Kinley, owner of Growler Haus, launched Grain Ideas, a program he piloted last year at his flagship ale house in Anderson. The program encourages area residents to share their concepts and work with other participants to figure out how to make those ideas a reality.</p><p>About 70 people crammed into Kinley's Spartanburg location off North Church Street during Wednesday's launch event. Former Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnet gave a 20-minute update about the Northside Initiative, a plan to revitalize the Northside area, before the crowd broke into smaller groups to discuss their ideas.</p><p>"This is really energizing to see this many people show up," Kinley said. "It just blows my mind." </p><p>Kinley recently teamed up with Wofford College's entrepreneurial team, including Scott Cochran, Courtney Shelton and Jeremy Boeh, to further develop the program, which is basically a networking platform with a launch component.</p><p>The program will be held once a month, but it will be split between Kinley's store at 113 N. Church St. and his location in Anderson in order to serve prospective entrepreneurs in both counties.</p><p>Each program will provide insight from a guest speaker, followed by pitches from a group of entrepreneurs. Hub-Bub and the Spartanburg Entrepreneurial Resource Network are also participating in Grain Ideas.</p><p>"There is a lot of support out there for entrepreneurs," Shelton said. "But what about those people who have 9-to-5 jobs? We wanted to be able to pool the support for them. This is about making dreams happen instead of just talking about them."</p><p>Some participants came armed with ideas, while others just wanted to get a feel for the program.</p><p>Reed Brown, vice president of Brown Packing in Gaffney, said he heard about the launch event in an email and just wanted to check it out for himself.</p><p>"There's a lot of energy in this room," Brown said. "It's putting people that have the ideas and energy in touch with the ones that can make it happen. I think it's great."</p><p>Kinley started his crowd-sourced craft beer venture in June 2012. Last year, he enrolled in the city of Spartanburg economic development department's Main Street Challenge.</p><p>He advanced all the way to the semifinals of the competition, but decided to drop out when the space he had been eyeing became available.</p><p>"I hope I never hear another person say 'I wish Spartanburg had that,' " Boeh said. "This is the place to talk about it. This is what is going to make Spartanburg better."</p><p>For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/grainideas.</p>